The Afghan authorities have now more confidence in the efficiency of their army, and consider it quite different and superior to what it was when Lord Roberts was there, and it is possible, in the event of another war with them, that they would offer battle in force, but if the day went against them, the rest of the fighting would probably be of the guerilla sort, to which they are more accustomed, unless they considerably outnumbered the enemy at any time. In their own fighting, one against the other, there is generally one pitched battle, and whosoever is routed runs away and fights no more; they say themselves, that a defeated army runs, and does not stop running, under three days. In time of war women carry supplies to the men, and then the laws of “purdah” are suspended, and being a case of necessity, they are allowed to show their faces without shame. It is well known that the women, during the wars with the English, used to go out at night after a battle, and mutilate the bodies of the dead, and kill the wounded and dying. Many also took part in the fighting. As an illustration of one side of the Afghan character, I may mention an incident told me by a man, who belonged to the Kandahar district. His cousin owned a house some miles out of Kandahar (I have mentioned that houses are protected by high walls), and after one of the battles fought by the English against the tribes about, there were many stragglers following the main army back towards Kandahar. One day his cousin was told by one of his men that an Englishman was outside the walls shouting, and on going to the roof, whence he could look over the wall, he saw a Highlander carrying a rifle, who called out to give him some food. The cousin ran back to his room, and brought out a rifle, and climbing up to the roof again, knelt behind the wall, and aiming carefully at the soldier, fired. The man dropped, but was not killed, as a movement could now and then be observed, and the cousin feared to go out to get the rifle, for which he had shot him; so they kept watch for two days before it was decided that life must be extinct, and during that time the soldier called often and piteously for water, but no one went near, fearing vengeance as long as there was life left in him. CHAPTER XIV TRADES AND COMMERCE Amir’s interest in mechanical tools, guns, etc.—Workshops—Consumption of fuel—Ustads and workmen—Pay of men—Trades, shopkeepers, and merchants—Produce of country—Exports and imports—Irrigation of crops and fights about water—Caravans and methods of carrying freight—Weights and measures—Mirzas and offices—Debt collecting—Hindoos and Hindoo money-lenders—Mint and coinage of country.